Michaels dry lotus flower seeds

[addy1]

Mine sent up a long leaf and stem (my seed) around 12 inches long. That is a good indicator it is growing and growing nicely. I am not on my normal computer, ow would link you to a good article for growing them. I will see if I can find it for you.

My lotus tubers I put in around 15 inches of water to top of pot, they are doing great. The leafs grew until they reached the surface.
I have one in 20 inches it is doing great, to top of clay, and a few small ones in 10 inches they are slowly getting going.

You don't want to submerge your new leaf, so however long it is, ie where it reaches the surface of the water is how deep you put the seed

 

[KennethO]

I'll put it in the pond when the leaves reach about 4-6". So tomorrow or the day after I bet. 4-6" is good because the first few leaves feed off the seed since there are no roots. Too deep and it uses a lot of that stored energy to grow the leaf taller instead of working on roots and a tuber.

Then I'll drop it lower in the pond once it is more established if I want.

 

[taherrmann4]

I'll put it in the pond when the leaves reach about 4-6". So tomorrow or the day after I bet. 4-6" is good because the first few leaves feed off the seed since there are no roots. Too deep and it uses a lot of that stored energy to grow the leaf taller instead of working on roots and a tuber.

Then I'll drop it lower in the pond once it is more established if I want.

They grow that quick?

 

[addy1]

I'll put it in the pond when the leaves reach about 4-6". So tomorrow or the day after I bet. 4-6" is good because the first few leaves feed off the seed since there are no roots. Too deep and it uses a lot of that stored energy to grow the leaf taller instead of working on roots and a tuber.

Then I'll drop it lower in the pond once it is more established if I want.

Yep agree, did that with the seed, the tubers treated differently

 

[DrDave]

So an update.

You go to the dried flower section in Michael's. 3 pods for about 5.50$. They look like this.

Take a Dremel tool or file to the end with a pin hole or the side of the seed. Will look like this.

Place it in a container of water and change it twice a day. I use warm water.

This is 48 hours after.

I had 15. As of today 5 have cracked and started to sprout.

Best photos yet!
Please show the transplanting process as well.
Keep up the good work!

 

[DrDave]

Update! 1 of the 2 that I am soaking, sprouted. It looks exactly like Kens so I didn't bother to photograph it yet.

 

[fishin4cars]

Here is a great Youtube video that tells how and when to fert. young lotus, just watched this yesterday and saw this post. I think you'll get some good info from it!
[ame]

 

[KennethO]

So this is about 72 hours. Now have 9 sprouting as of today.

Already unfolding.

Almost an inch in growth overnight.

 

[fishin4cars]

KennethO Better start getting plenty of big pots ready. It's best to only raise one seed per pot, 2 gallon pot is a minimum and 5 gallon is much better. LOL I just started two Lotus and three new lily's, Didn't take me long to figure out, I'M OUT OF ROOM!

 

[KennethO]

Lol ya. I got a bunch of 5gal growers pots from lowes. Nice thick durable pots. I will just put them in the back of the upper pool. But for this season since its kind of late. I'm sure a wide 1-2gal would be fine since growth is cut by 3 months or so.

Good thing about them is that they will stick out of the water so you can drop them behind another plant. Lilies would suck on the other hand if you had no room.

 

[DrDave]

KennethO Better start getting plenty of big pots ready. It's best to only raise one seed per pot, 2 gallon pot is a minimum and 5 gallon is much better. LOL I just started two Lotus and three new lily's, Didn't take me long to figure out, I'M OUT OF ROOM!

What did you use for a medium? Is the water stagnant or is there a drain?

 

[fishin4cars]

I'm trying kitty litter on this one, no drain stagnant water for now. I'm waiting for the first leaves to appear above the surface and I'm going to try miracle grow. My other lotus is growing in 20 gallons of aquatic planting media with flowing water and has been growing in it for four or five years, I am thinking about pulling it and starting some new tubers as I'm sure the container is pretty root bound, It's not growing as big this year as last and last year it didn't grow as big as the year before that. Been reading up and it seems they need to be re potted and the tubers separated every two years.

 

[KennethO]

I normally use just heavy top soil with pea gravel. Since I have so many plants I don't worry to much about leaching nutrients. Just gets used so fast. Might try kitty litter/clay on these.

Might even try a mix of sand in one. Or all 3 and see how it does. Like maybe clay on the perimeter then soil/sand mix in the center for better nutrients. With litter, do you need any burlap or paper to hold the media in?

 

[fishin4cars]

I tried soil, It worked good to start with but after about two or three months if you lift the pot out of the pond it will stink like $#!%! I quit using soil, If your going to mix, I would put a layer of peat instead of soil, then kitty litter then the sand, the sand will help greatly to keep any clay from clouding the water. also the sand looks better when viewed from above.
I don't use pots with holes in the bottom for Lotus, If I do I use a pot for plants that have holes in them I either use a small piece of burlap, Peat moss, Nylon stocking, or (Just tried this for the first time yesterday so I'm not sure how well it will work) placing a water lily leaf in the bottom to keep anything from flowing out and let it break down naturally. Someone told me this trick and I figured give it a shot, sounded easy enough.

 

[Nova]

I went to Micheals and bought lotus pods. They had 14 seeds. After taking out the seeds I added the pods to a dried arrangement I already had. I hope I have even half the amount of luck KennethO had.